Selvedge-forming mechanisms for shuttleless weaving looms and the like



1966 v. M. J. ANCET ETAL 3,229,724

SELVEDGE-FORMING MECHANISMS FOR SHUTTLELESS WEAVING LOOMS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 14, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ji fo ATTORNEY Jan. 18, 1966 v, ANCET ETAL 3,229,724

SELVEDGE-FORMING MECHANISMS FOR SHUTTLELESS WEAVING LOOMS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 14,- 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3 229,724 SELVEl)GE-FO]RIVll[l lG MECHANISMS FOR SHUT- TLELESS WEAVING LOOMS AND THE LIKE Victor Marie Joseph Ancet and Marius, known as Marcel, Fayolle, Lyon, France, assignors to Brelic International Inc., Panama, Panama, a corporation of Panama Filed Jan. 14, 1964, Ser. No. 337,678 Claims priority, application France, Jan. 21, 1963, 43,240, Patent 1,356,970 8 Claims. (Cl. 139-124) This invention relates to a selvedge-forming mechanism for shuttleless weaving looms. In such looms each weft is inserted into the shed from a stationary weft supply by an appropriate weft-inserting member such as for instance a transversely reciprocated needle. The weft thread cannot therefore surround and retain the marginal warp threads on both sides of the fabrics and if a selvedge is desired, it must be realized by separate means at least on one of the said sides.

A number of methods have been proposed for realizing a selvedge on a shuttleless weaving loom. In one of them the selvedge is obtained by weaving an auxiliary weft thread under double form across a small width starting from the edge of the fabric. This may be done by means of a device closely similar to those which are used for the manufacture of ribbons. Such a device comprises an auxiliary weftinserting member which inserts into the shed a loop of the auxiliary weft-thread, and an auxiliary weft-retaining member adapted to retain the said loop during the return movement of the auxiliary weft-inserting member until the main weft is beaten up by the reed carried by the slay. The auxiliary weft-inserting member has generally an oscillating motion and since it is of curved configuration, it is commonly referred to as the auxiliary weft-inserting hook, while the auxiliary weft-retaining member is conventionally realized in the form of a needle which is vertically driven through the warp shed.

To known selvedge-forming mechanisms of the kind in question suifer from a number of disadvantages. When they are disposed above the fabric, they are easily adjusted and inspected, but they hinder the free access to the templets which cannot be disposed at the most appropriate location and which are uneasily observed, adjusted and cleaned. In fact the weft-inserting hook oscillates in the zone in which a conventional templet should be mounted for optimal operating conditions. It has been proposed to use selvedge-forming mechanisms realized under miniaturized form, but such devices are rather delicate and they still cause an obstruction in the vicinity of the templets.

In another known embodiment the selvedge'forming mechanism is almost wholly disposed below the fabric. The templet is then quite free of any obstruction, but the access to the mechanism itself is quite uneasy.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a selvedge-forming mechanism for shuttleless weaving looms which will comprise no delicate and expensive miniaturized gearing, which will be easy to adjust, which will in no way hinder the free access to the templets and which will not require a special mounting of the latter.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a selvedge-forming mechanism comprising no part situated above or under the fabric proper, i.e. in front of the line of fell and in the immediate vicinity of the edge of the fabric.

In accordance with the present invention in a selvedgeforming mechanism of the above-mentioned character, the auxiliary weft-inserting member has a rectilinear reciprocating motion transversely with respect to the shed. This weft-inserting member is preferably formed of a 3,229,724 Patented Jan. 18, 1966 "ice substantially horizontal thread-guiding plate having a perforation for passage of the auxiliary weft thread, the said plate being substantially disposed in the same plane as the fabric on the loom and being secured to the inner end of a transverse supporting member in such manner as to protrude with respect thereto towards the front end of the loom. The perforated thread-guiding plate may be in the form of an isosceles triangle having its base secured to the supporting member, its perforation being situated in the vicinity of its apex. The transverse supporting member is preferably resilient in a plane parallel to the plane of the fabric on the loom and it may be formed of a resilient blade disposed in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the fabric on the loom.

The plate-supporting member may be carried by a longitudinal arm secured to a movable transverse rod slidably carried by the loom in front of the line of fell of the fabric and actuated by a cam gearing from the main shaft of the loom.

The auxiliary weft-retaining needle is preferably so mounted as to oscillate about a substantially longitudinal axis which is laterally disposed with respect to the beating up reed of the loom and it may be actuated by the platesupporting member through the medium of appropriate abutments. The end portion of the needle is preferably disposed at an angle towards the lower portion and the front end of the loom in such a manner as to push the auxiliary weft thread towards the line of fell when the said needle is driven through the warp, and also to clear the path of the thread-guiding plate during the return movement thereof.

In the annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmental plan View showing the lefthand side of a shuttleless weaving loom equipped with a selvedge-forming mechanism according to the present invention, the parts being illustrated at their position during the first part of the stroke or the main weft-inserting needle of the loom.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the auxiliary weft-inserting thread-guide and of the blade by which it is supported.

FIG. 3 is a fragmental section taken along line IIIIII of FIG. 1, this view showing the arm which carries the thread-guide supporting blade.

FIG. 4 is a view in elevation illustrating the two-armed lever which actuates the movable transverse rod forming the driving member of the carrying arm of FIG. 3'.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the cam gearing which actuates the two-armed lever of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the auxiliary weft-retaining needle and the parts associated therewith.

FIG. 7 is a rear view of the gearing which actuates the auxiliary weft-retaining needle.

FIG. 8 is a large scale view showing the end portion of the weft-retaining needle and illustrating its operation for pushing the auxiliary weft thread towards the line of fell of the fabric.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatical longitudinal section showing the disposition of the thread-guiding plate and of its supporting blade with respect to the shed.

FIG. 10 partially reproduces FIG. 1, but the parts being supposed at the position which corresponds to the beating up step of the reed.

FIG. 11 is a plan view with parts in section showing the motion reversing gearing which connects with each other the movable transverse rods of two selvedge-forming mechanisms disposed on the same loom, one on each side thereof.

FIG. 12 is a cross-section taken along line XIIXII of FIG. 11.

In the fragmental plan view of FIG. 1 reference numeral 6, mounted on a cross bar 7 of the loom frame.

1 designates the beating up reed carried by the conventional reciprocating slay (not illustrated) of the loom. Through this reed are passed the warp threads 2 which, at the position shown, are respectively raised and lowered so as to form the shed for passage of the reciprocating in front of the loom). The successive wefts, beaten up by the reed 1, form the woven fabric which is maintained in width in the conventional manner by templets such as When the weft-inserting needle 3 has caught by its raised wing 3a the portion of the weft thread 4 which is comprised between the left-hand edge of the fabric and the feed guide 8, this portion is cut close to the said edge by an appropriate cutting member such as a vertically movable blade 9.

In order to realize a selvedge on the said left-hand side of the loom there is used an auxiliary weft thread which is woven under double form across a small width of the warp starting from the left-hand edge thereof. The auxiliary weft-inserting member which is used for this purpose comprises a movable thread-guide in the form of a small perforated plate 11 having the shape of an isosceles triangle disposed in a substantially horizontal plane with its apex directed towards the front end of the loom. The hole 11a provided in the triangular plate 11 for passage of the auxiliary weft thread 10 is situated in the vicinity of its apex which is rounded as shown. The base of the said plate 11 is secured to the front side of a resilient supporting blade 12 disposed in a transverse vertical plane. As clearly shown in FIG. 1, this supporting blade 12 is directed transversely with respect to the loom and the thread-guiding plate 11 is disposed at the right end thereof. The supporting blade 12 has a hole 12a (FIG. 2)

. through which the auxiliary weft thread 10 passes on its way towards the thread-guiding plate 11, as this may be; 1 seen in FIG. 1. The left end 12b of the supporting blade 12 is bent at 90 and it is secured to the rear end of a longitudinal arm 13 (FIGS. 1 and 3) by means of a screw 14 which passes through an elongated opening 120 (FIGS.

2 and 3) of the said blade, this opening also receiving a centering pin 15 carried by the arm 13. The supporting blade has a tapering end 12d which extends somewhat beyond plate 11 (FIG. 3).

- screws 19 passed through vertically elongated openings 18a of the plate. The downwardly extending portion of the latter has a notch which opens rearwardly with respect to the loom in order to engage slidingly the above-mentioned templet-supporting bar 7. The movable rod 16 is slidably supported by lateral bearings carried by the loomframe 20 (FIG. 1). In the example illustrated the driving gearing of this rod 16 comprises a movable vertical rod 21 (FIG. 4) which actuates through a small connecting rod 22 a first branch of a two-armed lever 23 pivoted at 24 on abracket 25 (FIG. 1) secured to the loom frame 20. The end of the other branch of the said lever 23 is bifurcated. and engages a pin 26 carried by a stirrup 27 secured to the left end of the movable rod 16. The vertical rod 21 is itself reciprocated by an arm 28 (FIG. 5) keyed on a transverse shaft 29 which carries an actuating arm 30 having at its free end a roller 33 cooperating with a cam 31 mounted on the lower transverse shaft 32 of the loom, the said arm 30 being urged by a spring 34. The motion imparted to the transverse rod 16 is thus accu rately determined by the contour of the driving cam 31.

The selvedge-forming mechanism further comprises an respect to the hole 11a.

auxiliary weft-retaining needle 35 adapted to pass downwardly through the marginal portion of the warp in order to retain the auxiliary weft loop inserted into the shed by the thread-guiding plate 11. This retaining needle 35 is in the form of an appropriately shaped wire (FIGS. 6 and 7) carried by a ring 36 loosely mounted on a pin 37, the said pin being in turn secured to a bracket 38 which is fixed on the templet supporting cross bar 7 by means of a collar and of a set screw 39 (FIG. 1). This pin 37 is directed longitudinally with respect to the loom and it is disposed laterally with respect to the beating up reed 1 so as not to interfere with the operation of the latter. The angular motion of the auxiliary weft-retaining needle 35 is limited in both directions by two studs 40 carried by the supporting bracket 38 and which act as abutments. The supporting bracket 38 further carries one end of a resilient blade 41 clamped in position by means of a screw 42, the other end of this blade being applied against the above-mentioned needle carrying ring 36 below its supporting pin 37, in order to maintain the said ring in engagement with a frictional washer 43 which retains the needle while permitting it to move under the action of a sufficiently high driving force.

The auxiliary weft-retaining needle 35 is driven by a rod 44 which is pivoted to the needle-carrying ring 36 by means of a screw 45. This rod 44 slides freely through 'the blade-supporting arm 13, as indicated in FIG. 1, and

it carries on each side of the latter an abutting ring 46 adjustably secured in position by means of a set screw 47 (FIG. 7).

FIG. 8 shows at an enlarged scale the shape of the free end of the retaining needle 35. As also indicated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the said needle is first bent at 90 so as to pass vertically through the warp when the needlecarrying ring 36 is rotated in the proper direction. It is thereafter bent at about 45 towards the rear end of the loom, as indicated at 35a in FIG. 8, so as to determine a rearwardly oblique portion which may push the auxiliary weft thread 10 towards the line of fell of the fabric.

In operatiomas soon as the shed opens after the beating up step, the transverse rod 16 moves from left to right in FIG. 1 and the thread-guiding plate 11 thus enters the shed It is important to remark that the hole 11a of this plate may be situated close to the line of fell owing to the fact that the said plate is relatively thin and that its supporting blade 12 is disposed rearwardly with FIG. 9 clearly shows that the supporting blade 12 enters the shed in a zone where the vertical distance between the warp threads which have been raisedand those which have been lowered is alread substantial. Due to the triangular contour of the threadguiding plate 11 there is no risk of a warp thread being caught by the oblique sides of the said plate. At the end of the stroke of the movable rod 16 towards the right the parts assume thepo sition illustrated in FIG. 1,

" the thread-guiding plate 11 being situated within the shed at a small distance from the edge of the warp. The bladesupporting arm 13 has struck the inner abutting ring 46, i.e. the ring 46 nearer to the edge of thewarp, and the connecting rod 44 has thus been pushed towards the right in FIG. 1, i.e. towards the left in FIG. 7. The needle carrying ring 36 has thus been rotated counterclockwise in the said FIG. 7 together with the retaining needle 35 the tip 35a of which has passed downwardly through the triangular loop .formed by the auxiliary weft thread 10, as indicated in FIG. 1. Owing to the oblique shape of the terminal portion 35a (FIG. 8) of the needle, the tip thereof may safely enter the said loop although the remainder of the. said needle is situated somewhat more in front with respect to the loom so as not to interfere with the returning stroke of the thread-guiding plate 11, as this may be clearly understood by considering FIG. '1. Further, and as above mentioned, this oblique portion 35a of the needle pushes against the line of fell the portion of the said triangular loop situated between the preceding weft and the thread-guiding plate (position indicated at in FIG. 8), in such manner that the said portion is easily retained as soon as the shed begins closing.

Meanwhile the blade 9 has been raised so as to cut the main weft thread 4 without interfering with any other member, and the weft-inserting needle 3 has effected its operative cycle, first from right to left and then from left to right with the main weft thread 4.

Somewhat before the shed closes, the movable transverse rod 16 returns towards the left in FIG. 1 and the the blade-supporting arm 13 therefore disengages the thread-guiding plate 11 from the shed. It is to be remarked that this movement of the plate 11 towards the left in FIG. 1 is not hindered by the auxiliary weft-retaining needle 35 since, as above explained, the tip thereof is then situated well below the warp while the remainder of the said needle is disposed somewhat more in front on the loom. Also the cutting blade 9 has been lowered and has cleared the path of the guiding plate 11. Towards the end of this leftwards movement of the transverse rod 16 the arm 13 strikes the outer abutting ring 46 and draws the connecting rod 44 towards the left in FIG. 1 (i.e. towards the right in FIG. 7) which results in a clockwise rotation of the needle carrying ring 36 in said FIG. 7. The retaining needle 35 is thus raised and clears the path of the reed 1 which beats up the main weft 4 together with the double weft formed by the auxiliary thread 10. FIG. 10 shows the position of the parts during the beating up movement of the reed. The retaining needle 35 is frictionally maintained at each of its positions by the spring blade 41 and the frictional disc 43.

As demonstrated by FIGS. 1 and 10 the invention thus provides a selvedge-forming mechanism which comprises no pivot, bearing, support or the like situated substantially in front of the line of fell and in the vicinity of the edge of the fabric. The space required for the mounting of the templets such as 6 is therefore quite free. The fabric may be freely inspected as it is woven and any defect may be easily corrected. The weft cutting blade 9 operates without interfering with the selvedge-forming mechanism. The construction of this mechanism is quite simple and comprises no part of too small dimensions. It is easily adjusted since all its parts are situated laterally with respect to the warp or to the fabric. Owing to the flexibility of the resilient plate-supporting blade 12, if the latter is struck by the reed 1 owing to a defective adjustment or for any other reason, it only flexes without any serious damage for the parts.

When it is desired to provide a selvedge-forming mechanism on each side of the loom it is possible todispense with two separate driving gearings by so connecting the respective movable transverse rods with each other that they move in opposite directions. FIGS. 11 and 12 show the details of such an arrangement. The movable rods, which have been respectively designated by references 16 and 16", are disposed in line, i.e. along the same geometrical axis transverse to the loom, their facing ends being guided by small bearings 48 carried by a supporting plate 49 which has been supposedly broken in FIG. 11, the said plate being welded or otherwise secured to the templet-supporting bar 7. This plate 49 carries a stud 50 on which is hinged a two-armed lever 51 the ends of which are pivotally attached to connecting rods, respectively 52', 52", having their other ends pivoted to the ends of the respective movable rods 16, 16". It is clear that the motion of one rod, as for instance 16', is transmitted in the reverse direction to the other one 16" and that therefore a single driving gearing is sufficient for both rods.

It is to be noted that the supporting plate 49 forms a protecting screen for the motion-reversing mechanism just described. Further with this construction the whole of the selvedge-forming mechanism or mechanisms (when one mechanism is provided on each side of the loom) is supported by the templet-supporting bar 7 and by the lateral blocks 53 which secure the end of this bar to the loom frame. Another advantage of the selvedge-forming mechanism described is that it is easily adjusted in accordance with the width of the fabric to be woven on the loom since it is suflicient for this purpose to displace the arm 13 on the movable transverse rod 16 and the supporting bracket 38 on the templet-supporting bar 7.

We claim:

1. In a shuttleless weaving loom having warp threads adapted to form successive sheds, a reciprocated main weft-inserting member movable through each of said sheds to insert thereinto a main weft from a stationary weft thread supply, and a reciprocating reed to beat up each successive main weft inserted by said main weft-inserting member towards a line of fell to form a fabric with said warp threads, said fabric defining a plane in front of said line of fell, a mechanism to form a selvedge by means of an auxiliary weft thread, said selvedge-forming mechanism comprising an auxiliary weft-inserting perforated plate having substantially the shape of an isosceles triangle with a rounded apex directed towards said line of fell, the perforation of said plate being disposed in the vicinity of said apex, said plate being substantially disposed in the plane of said fabric on said loom, and said plate forming a thread-guide for said auxiliary weft thread and being movable along a substantially rectilinear path transversely to said loom to insert into each of said successive sheds a loop of said auxiliary weft thread; a resilient plate supporting blade transversely disposed on said loom in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said fabric, said blade having an inner end and an outer end with respect to said loom and said plate being secured to said blade on the side thereof which faces said line of fell and in the vicinity of said inner end of said blade; means to reciprocate said blade transversely of said loom in unison with the formation of said successive sheds to drive said plate into each shed from one side of said loom while said main weft-inserting member is moving therewithin to insert a mainweft thereinto, and to return said plate outwardly from said shed before said main weft is beaten up by said reed; an auxiliary weft-retaining needle having an end portion movable through said warp threads in the vicinity of said one side of said loom at a small distance from said line of fell and on the other side thereof with respect to said fabric; and means to reciprocate said needle in unison with operation of said plate to drive said end portion through said warp threads to retain within each of said sucessive sheds a loop of said auxiliary weft thread during the return movement of said plate, and to disengage said end portion from said warp threads so as to clear the way for said reed which then beats up said auxiliary weft thread under double form together with said main weft across a small width of said fabric along said one side of said loom.

2. In a selvedge-forming mechanism as claimed in claim 1, said means to reciprocate said blade comprising a transversely movable arm longitudinally disposed on said one side of said loom laterally with respect to said warp threads, said blade being secured to the end of said arm nearer to said reed; means to slidably guide said arm on said loom; a movable transverse rod slidably carried by said loom, the end of said arm farther from said reed being fixed to said rod to be driven thereby; and cam means to reciprocate said movable transverse rod in unison with operation of said loom.

3. In a shuttleless weaving loom having warp threads adapted to form successive sheds, a reciprocating main Weft-inserting member movable through each of said sheds to insert thereinto a main weft from a stationary weft thread supply, and a reciprocating reed to beat up each successive main weft inserted by said main weft-inserting member towards a line of fell to form a fabric with said warp threads, said fabric defining a plane in front of said line of fell, a mechanism to form a selvedge by means of an auxiliary weft thread, said selvedge-forming mechanism comprising an auxiliary weft-inserting member movable along a substantially rectilinear path transversely to said loom to insert into each of said successive sheds a loop of said auxiliary weft thread; auxiliary weftinserting member supporting means transversely movable on one side of said loom to carry said auxiliary weftinserting member and to actuate same; means to reciprocate said auxiliary weft-inserting member supporting means in unison with the formation of said successive sheds to drive said auxiliary weft-inserting member into each shed from said one side of said loom while said main weft-inserting member is moving therewithin to insert a main weft thereinto, and to return auxiliary weft-inserting member outwardly from said shed before said main weft is beaten up by said reed; an oscillatable auxiliary Weft-retaining needle having an end portion movable through said Warp threads in the vicinity of said one side of said loom at a small distance from said line of fell and on the other side thereof with respect to said fabric; a pivot longitudinally disposed with respect to said loom on said one side of said loom to rotatably support said .needle; a rod movable substantially transversely to said loom and pivotally connected with said needle to oscillate same; and abutment means on said rod to so cooperate with said auxiliary weft-inserting member supporting means that same actuates angularly said auxiliary weftretaining needle in one direction and in the other in unison with operation of said auxiliary weft-inserting member to drive .said end portion of said needle through said warp threads to retain within each of said successive sheds a loop of said auxiliary Weft thread during the outward return movement of said auxiliary weft-inserting member,

. and to disengage said end portion from said warp threads so as to clear the way for said reed which thus beats up said auxiliary weft thread under double form together with posed on said ring and on which one end of said rod is pivoted; and frictional means acting on said ring to maintain same in position between successive actuations of said rod by said abutment means.

6. In a selvedge-forming mechanism as claimed in claim 3, said auxiliary weft-inserting member supporting means having a hole through which said rod may freely slide, and said abutment means comprising two rings secured to said rod respectively one on each side of said hole to be actuated by said auxiliary weft-inserting member supporting means at the end of each reciprocating stroke thereof.

7. In a shuttleless weaving loom having warp threads adapted to form successive sheds, a reciprocated main weft-inserting member movable through each of said sheds to insert thereinto a main weft from a stationary weft thread supply, and a reciprocating reed to beat up each successive main weft inserted by said main weft-inserting member towards a line of fell to form a fabric with said warp threads, said fabric defining a plane in front of said line of fell, a first and .a second selvedge-forming mechanism respectively disposed on one and the other side of said loom to form a selvedge by means of an auxiliary weft thread, each of said mechanisms embodying an auxiliary weft-inserting means to insert into each of said successive sheds a loop of said auxiliary weft thread while said main weft-inserting member is moving therewithin to insert a weft, a movable transverse rod slidably carried by said loom, to reciprocate said auxiliary weft-inserting means in unison with the formation of said successive sheds, an auxiliary weft-retaining needle having its end portion movable through said warp threads substantially perpendicularly to said plane of said fabric to retain said loop until it is beaten up by said reed; said loom further comprising a first slidably carried transverse rod to reciprocate the auxiliary weft-inserting means and the auxiliary weft-retaining needle of said first selvedge-forming mechanism in unison with each other and with the formation of said successive sheds; a second slidably carried transverse rod to reciprocate the auxiliary weft inserting means and the auxiliary weft-retaining needle of said sec- 0nd selvedge-forming mechanism in unison with each other and with the formation of said successive sheds; a motion reversing mechanism to connect said first transverse rod with said second transverse rod; and cam means to reciprocate one of said transverse rods in unison with operation of said loom.

8. In a shuttleless weaving loom as claimed in claim 7, templets acting on said fabric to maintain same in width; a transverse bar to support said templets; and a plate secured to said transverse bar to support said motionreversing mechanism.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,061,836 5/1913 Graf 139-423 1,606,626 11/ 1926 Green et a1 139124 3,058,496 10/ 1962 Dewas 139-124 3,090,405 5/ 1963 Dewas 139124 3,116,762 1/1964 Ancet et a1. 139-124 FOREIGN PATENTS 594,472 6/ 1925 France. 1,231,800 4/ 1960 France. 1,242,372 8/1960 France. 1,278,150 10/1961 France.

119,558 10/ 1918 Great Britain.

214,198 9/ 1924 Great Britain.

103,044 12/ 1936 Norway.

ROBERT R. MACKEY, Primary Examiner.

DONALD W. PARKER, J. KEE CHI,

Assistant Examiners. 

1. IN A SHUTTLELESS WEAVING LOOM HAVING WRAP THREADS ADAPTED TO FORM SUCCESSIVE SHEDS, A RECIPROCATED MAIN WEFT-INSERTING MEMBER MOVABLE THROUGH EACH OF SAID SHEDS TO INSERT THEREINTO A MAIN WEFT FROM A STATIONARY WEFT THREAD SUPPLY, AND A RECIPROCATING REED TO BEAT UP EACH SUCCESSIVE MAIN WEFT INSERTED BY SAID MAIN WEFT-INSERTING MEMBER TOWARDS A LINE OF FELL TO FORM A FABRIC WITH SAID WARP THREADS, SAID FABRIC DEFINING A PLANE IN FRONT OF SAID LINE OF FELL, A MECHANISM TO FORM A SELVEDGE BY MEANS OF AN AUXILLIARY WEFT THREAD, SAID SELVEDGE-FORMING MECHANISM COMPRISING AN AUXILLARY WEFT-INSERTING PERFORATED PLATE HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SHAPE OF AN ISOSCELES TRIANGLE WITH A ROUNDED APEX DIRECTED TOWARDS SAID LINE OF FELL, THE PERFORATION OF SAID PLATE BEING DISPOSED IN THE VICINITY OF SAID APEX, SAID PLATE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY DISPOSED IN THE PLANE OF SAID FABRIC ON SAID LOOM, AND SAID PLATE FORMING A THREAD-GUIDE FOR SAID AUXILIARY WEFT THREAD AND BEING MOVABLE ALONG A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTILINEAR PATH TRANSVERSELY TO SAID LOOM TO INSERT INTO EACH OF SAID SUCCESSIVE SHEDS A LOOP OF SAID AUXILIARY WEFT THREAD; A RESILIENT PLATE SUPPORTING BLADE TRANSVERSELY DISPOSED ON SAID LOOM IN A PLANE SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF SAID FABRIC, SAID BLADE HAVING AN INNER END AND AN OUTER END WITH RESPECT TO SAID LOOM AND SAID PLATE BEING SECURED TO SAID BLADE ON THE SIDE THEREOF WHICH FACES SAID LINE OF FELL AND IN THE VICINITY OF SAID INNER END OF SAID BLADE; MEANS TO RECIPROCATE SAID BLADE TRANSVERSELY OF SAID LOOM IN UNISON WITH THE FORMATION OF SAID SUCCESSIVE SHEDS TO DRIVE SAID PLATE INTO EACH SHED FROM ONE SIDE OF SAID LOOM WHILE SAID MAIN WEFT-INSERTING MEMBER IS MOVING THEREWITHIN TO INSERT A MAIN WEFT THEREINTO, AND TO RETURN SAID PLATE OUTWARDLY FROM SAID SHED BEFORE SAID MAIN WEFT IS BEATEN UP BY SAID REED; AN AUXILIARY WEFT-RETAINING NEEDLE HAVING AN END PORTION MOVABLE THROUGH SAID WARP THREADS IN THE VICINITY OF SAID ONE SIDE OF SAID LOOM AT A SMALL DISTANCE FROM SAID LINE OF FELL AND ON THE OTHER SIDE THEREOF WITH RESPECT TO SAID FABRIC; AND MEANS TO RECIPROCATE SAID NEEDLE IN UNISON WITH OPERATION OF SAID PLATE TO DRIVE SAID END PORTION THROUGH SAID WARP THREADS TO RETAIN WITHIN EACH OF SAID SUCESSIVE SHEDS OF LOOP OF SAID AUXILIARY WEFT THREAD DURING THE RETURN MOVEMENT OF SAID PLATE, AND TO DISENGAGE SAID END PORTION FROM SAID WARP THREADS SO AS TO CLEAR THE WAY FOR SAID REED WHICH THEN BEATS UP SAID AUXILIARY WEFT THREAD UNDER DOUBLE FORM TOGETHER WITH SAID MAIN WEFT ACROSS A SMALL WIDTHOF SAID FABRIC ALONG SAID ONE SIDE OF SAID LOOM. 